ISRAEL TECH VENTURE CAPITAL NEWS
VC FUND BRM CUTS INVESTOR MANAGEMENT FEES
BRM Capital has cut management fees from 2.5% to 2.15%. Nir and Eli Barkat, James Richardson, Koor Industries, Idan Ofer, Bezeq, IBM, NTT, Bank Leumi, Alrov, and Shlomo Dovrat back the $251 million fund.
www.brm.com
ERAN DAVIDSON DEPARTS EUROFUND…
Eran Davidson, vice president at Eurofund, has left the $72 million venture capital firm. Eurofund enjoys the backing of Federmann Enterprises, ECI Telecom, Bertelsmann, Deutsche Telekom, Bezeq, and DaimlerChrysler. Portfolio companies include ColorChip, Cyoptics, OnePath, Celvibe, and Schema. Prior to joining Eurofund, Davidson was an executive at Inventech Investment and Discount Investment Corporation.
www.eurofund.co.il
…WHILE GENERAL PARTNER YAIR SAKOV LEAVES AIG-ORION FUND
Yair Sakov has departed the AIG-Orion Fund. Focused on IT and Internet technologies, the $110 million fund is backed by AIG Capital Partners, PMC-Sierra, Microsoft, Comcast, 3Com, and Global Crossing. Portfolio companies include Mobilitec, OnePath, Foxcom Wireless, MII (sold to Microsoft), Packet Technologies (shut down), and Zapper (shut down). Sakov was previously a Director of Corporate Business Development at 3Com.
www.orion.co.il
WARBURG
PINCUS CLOSES FUND VIII WITH $5.3 BILLION
Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm that invests in startups, growth capital
companies, buyouts, and restructurings, has closed Warburg Pincus Private Equity
VIII (WP VIII), with $5.3 billion. The fund will invest in companies in the US
and abroad alongside the firm's $2.5 billion international fund. Previous
investors made up 80% of WP VIII, the tenth fund raised over the firm's 30-year
history. Investments are focused on a range industry sectors including
healthcare and life sciences, business technology and services, financial
services, communications, information technology, media, natural resources, and
real estate. WP VIII fund has already made 15 investments, totaling about $575
million. Warburg Pincus has invested more than $12 billion in 450 companies in
29 countries. The firm has approximately $10 billion under management, with an
additional $7.5 billion available for investment.
www.warburgpincus.com
BIOTECH ANALYST MEIRAV HOVAV SKIPS CSFB FOR UBS
Top-ranked biotech analyst Meirav Hovav has left her position as a senior analyst with CSFB in favor of an identical position with UBS Warburg. Hovav reportedly received a $5 million annual salary at CSFB.
www.ubsw.com
FOUR CONSORTIA CHASING INCUBATOR TENDERS
Four consortia have submitted bids for the Israeli government tender for the establishment of two biotechnology incubators. The updated list includes:
l Rad BioScience - Made up of the Rad Group and Merck. Expected to invest a sum of $36 million.
l Lapid Biotechnologies - Made up of Teva Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson, alongside the Pitango and Giza VC funds. The consortium intends to invest some $40 million.
l Bio-Discovery - Made up of the Rothschild Bank, Aventis, the Morris Kahan Group and the Wertheimer and Max Hertzberg Groups. The consortium has announced plans to invest $100 million.
l Einav - Made up of the Ofer Brothers Group, Medica Venture Partners, Equity Life, Biotechnology General, Genzyme, and MPM.
PEREGRINE VC ACQUIRES MANAGEMENT RIGHTS TO ORIT INCUBATOR
As part of the on-going privatization of Israeli government–owned technological incubators, the Peregrine Fund has acquired the right to operate the Orit Technological R&D Center. Focused on seed investments in the telecommunication, software, electronic and medical sectors, Peregrine currently manages $15 million.
www.peregrinevc.com
FORMULA RAISES $4.6 MILLION
The Formula Group (Nasdaq: FORTY), a holding company focused on Israeli IT companies, has raised $4.6 million from Discount Bank and FIMI. In FY2001, Formula lost $51.1 million.
www.formulasystems.com